Problems Importing HDR Files...

[Laconic]

Hello All,

 

I'm running A:M v13.01 on a new MacBook with Intel processor. A:M seems to work fine, as it should.

 

I'm experimenting with HDRI lighting, and was trying to follow the instructions to load an .hdr file into A:M from the HDRI Tutorial thread.

 

It was suggested that the binary .hdr file (I got the "uffizi gallery" HDR file from the Debevec site at http://www.debevec.org/Probes/) should be imported.

 

When I right click on the images directory in the Workspace and attempt Import>Image..., and then select the "uffizi_probe.hdr" file, it says "Unsuppported HDR Format." Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong?

 

Alternately, can I change the HDR into another format (using Photoshop) to allow A:M to import?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Tim R.

[ypoissant]

A:M can import both HDR and OpenEXR HDRI files. HDR format I don't recommend anymore because the up-side-down information in the file header is unreliable.

[Laconic]

Thank you, Yves!

 

You're the Lighting Master!

 

A few more questions:

 

I've now set up the lighting sphere and successfully imported and applied the image to it....

 

1) If I want the scene to be lit only by the projection map, should I turn off all the other lights?

 

2) When I DO turn off the other lights, the scene is very dark. Is there a way to illuminate the map itself, so that it's lighting everything?

 

3) Should shadows be ON or OFF in Options?

 

4) Finally, what if I want the lighting/reflective effects of the Projection map in my image, but don't want to see the environment sphere itself, in my final Rendering?

 

Thanks so much!

[ypoissant]

1) If I want the scene to be lit only by the projection map, should I turn off all the other lights?

Yes. But the projection map itself will not illuminate the scene.

 

2) When I DO turn off the other lights, the scene is very dark. Is there a way to illuminate the map itself, so that it's lighting everything?

You would set the projection map sphere to 100% transparent with an IOR of 1.01 and instaall a skylight rig outside the sphere.

 

3) Should shadows be ON or OFF in Options?

Shadow OFF on the sphere and ON on the objects.

 

4) Finally, what if I want the lighting/reflective effects of the Projection map in my image, but don't want to see the environment sphere itself, in my final Rendering?

Use the Environment Shader plugin or the Environment Material plugin.

[Laconic]

Thanks Again, Yves!

 

T